Chapter 17 — The Child You Never Knew

On the third day after the final broadcast, the incident broke out at a faster speed than everyone expected. Ms. Liu posted that screenshot. Not on his own social media account, but on a secondary account that only has three thousand followers. But someone took a photo and shared it, like a snowball rolling bigger and bigger. The history of the conversation on the photo shows clearly: Wen Tam Duyet's office asked other families in the parent group to coordinate to reduce points, and implicitly implied that this was an "investor's arrangement". The three words "Investor" pulled Pho Tu Nien into action. The PR team of the Pho group urgently issued a statement, denying that the group level participated in any directive to suppress points, and said that it had opened an internal investigation for the relevant personnel. The words of the announcement were very restrained, but everyone in the world read and understood: Pho Tu Nien was cutting off relations with Wen Tam Duyet. Wen Tam Duyet's social network account deleted all content on the second day after the final. Her management company posted a vague notice, saying "Miss Tam Duyet has temporarily suspended all work for health reasons, and related issues will be handled by a team of lawyers." But the voices on the internet will not stop because of a notice. Trieu Hang posted a text on his social networking platform. No photos, no title, just a few hundred words. *"While filming this show, my son had another bruise on his arm. He cried and didn't dare tell me who did it, because that person threatened him that if he told his father, he would not be able to appear on TV anymore. My son was six years old. He was threatened by an adult, and a father like me at that time did not detect anything. Then someone reminded me. Her own child was also threatened by that person. She didn't call the police or make a fuss, she chose an occasion where everyone could witness it and exposed the truth to the light. I owe her a thank you."* The comment area exploded. Trieu Hang's fans flocked to Khuong Niem's personal page — an account that had not been updated for three years — leaving tens of thousands of comments under the last farewell post from three years ago. *"Sister Niem Niem, I'm sorry."* *"Among those who scolded you three years ago was me. Now I'm here to apologize."* *"Hope everything goes smoothly for you and Chau Chau in the future."* Khuong Niem read these comments. She sat on the hotel's bay window sill, Tieu Chau lying on her stomach next to her, playing puzzles. She scrolled through each comment one by one, without any expression, occasionally pausing for a moment, then continuing to scroll. La Dong's phone call came on time.

"Nien Niem! Have you seen Trieu Hang's post? Have you seen Ms. Luu's screenshot? See the hot search? Now the top three hot search positions are all you!" La Dong's voice was like a machine gun, so excited that he was hoarse, "Your reputation has completely reversed, the game has been turned upside down. Three management companies called me to ask if you want to sign another contract, there are two variety shows that want to invite you as a guest, and there is also a cosmetics brand that wants to find you as an endorser." present.”

“Refuse it all.”

"Huh? What did you say?

“Refuse it all.” Khuong Niem's voice was very calm, "I'm not accepting any jobs for the time being."

The sound of La Dong impatiently stamping his feet echoed through the phone. “Are you crazy? Once this kind of opportunity passes through this village, there will no longer be any inns. Do you know how short the shelf life of traffic is?”

“I know. But I don't make a living through traffic.”

“So what do you rely on!”

“Chau Chau is about to enter first grade.” Khuong Niem glanced at his son who was assembling a castle, "I have to go back to Lam Giang and find a school. Next month he has his entrance exam.”

La Dong was silent for five seconds. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Once you've arranged it, let me know. But I still keep the contact methods of those management companies, in case you change your mind."

“I won't change my mind.”

Hanging up the phone, Tieu Chau pushed the completed castle in front of her. “Look, Mom, three hundred and sixty-two pieces, not a single piece is missing.”

“How much time?”

“Forty-seven minutes.”

“Last time it was fifty-three minutes. It's six minutes faster.”

Tieu Chau nodded with satisfaction, then carefully removed the castle, preparing to put it back together from scratch. Khuong Niem looked at her child's face. The light shined on the boy's features, his jawline and forehead looked exactly like a person. She moved her eyes, opened her phone, and found the number that didn't save the guy's name. The other party has not contacted her for three days. She hesitated for two seconds, then sent a text message: *"The story about Trieu Hang's posting was arranged by you?"* Waiting a minute, there was a response message: *"No. He posted it himself. But when Ms. Liu's screenshot spread so far, I helped push it."* Khuong Niem stared at this answer. She had never saved that phone number in her contacts, but she knew who the other person was. It was Ha Than. The first time Ha Than proactively contacted her was at 2 a.m. in the second week of filming of the show. He texted and said he had the original documents from the organizers in his hand, asking if she needed it. At that time, she did not respond. At that time, she did not respond. After waiting another week, she replied with two words: *"Continue"*. She wasn't sure if Ha Than did it because her conscience arose or she was trying to double-cross. But that didn't matter. She needed those documents, so the transaction was established. *"The matter of Wen Tam Duyet, the next part remains." person who submits it to the authorities. It was not submitted by me, but by a former assistant of Wen Tam Duyet. That assistant was fired by her two years ago, still waiting for an opportunity."* Khuong Niem finished reading this message and put down the phone. The wind had changed direction. But it wasn't the end yet. The first week after returning to Lam Giang, Khuong Niem took Tieu Chau to take the entrance exam at a private elementary school. That school was called Khai Minh, ranked top 3 in Lam Giang. Tuition was not cheap, but Khuong Niem calculated, The salary from the variety show plus the championship's educational fund is enough to last two years.